Ben Healy and his EF Education-EasyPost team in many ways played their cards perfectly in the final of Amstel Gold Race today. But, as is often the case in cycling, the legs trailed behind the tactics
Healy (23) went into the race looking for a big result, after finishing 2nd last year and then 4th in Liège-Bastogne-Liège a week later. However, the added focus on this week of racing in 2024 was not rewarded today, in a race where those who took the initiative came away with the spoils.
EF Education-EasyPost decided to play their first proper card of the race by sending Mikkel Honoré up the road before the expected Mathieu van der Poel-led fireworks in the business end of the 198.6km contest.
The plan was clearly for Honoré to act as a satellite rider for the more fancied Healy and Olympic champion Richard Carapaz, who were expected to make their own moves and then be aided by the Frenchman already out front.
However, while the winning breakaway formed around the move Honoré was in, he was spat out the back and out of contention. And though Healy and Carapaz hoped to play a bigger role in the final, it simply did not happen for them.
Their form on the day was not as hoped for and the breakaway stole a march on most of the big favourites. Healy and Carapaz hit the front of what was left of the peloton late in the day, in a bid to bring back the escapees and set up their sprinter Marijn van den Berg. But there was no catching the riders up the road.
“It was a hard attritional day,” said Healy, after he eventually finished in 45th place. He was 1:38 down on race winner Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) after drifting off the back of the small bunch when he had emptied the tank for Van der Berg.
“We played the pre-final pretty perfectly, putting Mikkel up there, with the hope that in the end either Richard or I would have the legs to jump across to him,” added Healy.
“But unfortunately, it wasn’t the best day for either of us, I don’t think. But we had Marijn still going strong, so we did what we could to pull the front back and deliver Marijn for the sprint.”
Honoré went clear with Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep) and, one of the men of the race, Paul Lapeira (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) with about 60km to go, after the Bemelerberg. Though they only ever pulled out a gap of less than 30 seconds, they forced Van der Poel’s Alpecin-Deceuninck to chase hard.
Other riders then started making their way off the front over the top of the Eyserbosweg with about 35km to go. Even more attackers then jumped clear about 5km later, over the Keutenberg, with Pidcock among them.
Those escapees all joined forces to form a very strong breakaway group, though Honoré was dropped. And then the four strongest pressed on to contest the finish.
That foursome was made up off Pidcock, Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates), Tiesj Benoot (Visma-Lease A Bike) and Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-QuickStep); the group staying clear for a four-up sprint finishing in that order.
Lapeira struck out from the chasing group and very nearly got across to the leaders, only for Pidcock spotting him and attacking the before keeping the pressure on. And though Lapeira was caught by the chasing group, as Healy led the pursuit in the peloton, the young French rider still won the sprint for 5th.
He was right on the back wheels of the four leaders on the line, finishing on the same time as them. However, Pidcock took a deserved win as he had taken the initiative in the four-man breakaway in the closing stages and looked the strongest of them.